Editorial: Russia-Facebook story raises concerns

Chronicle Editorial Board

September 8, 2017Updated: September 8, 2017 10:30am

Facebook finally acknowledged that its social networking site was exploited by a Russian troll farm in the 2016 election.

Its admission that 470 accounts “affiliated with one another and likely operated out of Russia” purchased about 3,000 ads for $100,000 adds a disturbing though not particularly surprising twist to the story of that nation’s election interference.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he had long suspected the Russians covertly used social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to meddle in the election. He also warned that $100,000 investment — a paltry sum in the context of an American presidential campaign — might be “just the tip of the iceberg” of Russian activity on social networks.

“And you know, the first reaction from Facebook, of course, was ‘well, you’re crazy, nothing’s going on,’” Warner, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said at a national security conference in Washington.

One of the elements of this story that merits further investigation is Facebook’s disclosure in a blog post that about 25 percent of the ads were “geographically targeted.” That raises questions about whether the operators of the Russian accounts had assistance from Americans in selecting the areas of focus.

Another point for consideration is whether political advertising on social media should be subject to disclosure laws that apply to broadcast spots.

Then there is the issue of whether Facebook has installed sufficient defenses to identify and reject foreign-based political advertising for U.S. elections. This story isn’t going way.

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